Lamphere pulls away from Clawson in MAC Silver

MADISON HEIGHTS – Following a long layoff for the holidays, there’s always a worry for coaches that their team wouldn’t be game-ready. That wasn’t the case at Madison Heights Lamphere Tuesday, as the Rams got one of their best efforts of the season in turning back Clawson, 51-40.

Lamphere got balanced scoring from its starters, as the quintet combined for 41 points. Shannon Hoobler led the way with 12, followed by Alexis Hilliard and Michaela Louis (8 apiece), Taylor Kelly (7) and Kelsey Wilkinson (6).

“I’ve got my entire team back from last year, they know what I want, and they executed the way they’re supposed to execute,” Coach Mike Kobus said. “This team is experienced, they’re seniors, they want to win, and we want to do everything we can to help them win.”

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Lamphere (4-3, 2-0 Macomb Area Conference Silver) played at a quick tempo and moved the ball around frequently when getting out to a 16-7 lead in the first period.

“We pushed the ball up well, we looked for the open man and they gave us a couple of good looks,” Kobus said. “Alexis Hilliard, our center, is only 5-7, but she took the ball to the hole, got fouled a couple of times, and she did very well in the first half.”

Clawson Coach Jim Feeman agreed the key to the game was the Rams’ ability to set the tone early.

“We knew they had all of their starters back, so we talked to the girls and said ‘This is kind of like Notre Dame-Alabama -- We’ve got to hang in the game early if you want to be able to have a chance at the end.’ In that first quarter we let it get away from us,” Feeman said.

The Trojans (1-6, 0-2) did eventually find their land legs, although it did take awhile. Spurred by back-to-back three-pointers from Lizzie Pasquin and Josie Daniel, the Trojans were eventually able to close the gap to 37-30 late in the third.

But that’s when Lamphere asserted itself, going on a 10-point run to put the game out of reach with five minutes to play. That’s where the Rams’ experience paid off, Kobus said.

“We were in a lot of close games last year,” he said. “When we were all juniors, we’d panic and wouldn’t execute like we wanted to. This year, they came back and said, ‘Okay, we’re in a lot of games, let’s do this right,’ so they did it very well.”

“I thought our effort in the first half was lacking a little bit in energy and they out-hustled us,” Feeman said. “We missed 11 putbacks in the first half alone, although we shot better at the free throw line and I thought we had a good third quarter.”

BLOOMFIELD HILLS LAHSER 66, HAZEL PARK 23: Katie Stewart led all scorers with 18 points for the Knights (3-5), and Suzanne Miller, who recorded six points in the win, broke the school’s single-game assist record with 15. Dominique Coleman scored 11 for Hazel Park (0-8).